developer relations vs developer marketing
TRANSCRIPT
Michael Ludden @Michael_LuddenDirector of Product, IBM Watson Developer Labs & AR/VR Labs
Developer Relations vs. Developer Marketing
My Background
Developer Marketing Developer Relations
First, a few caveats...
• Real World vs. Ideal World
• Big company Problems vs. Startup Problems
• Semantics Matter
• I’m Opinionated, Your Mileage May Vary
What is Developer Marketing?
It’s Marketing. To Developers.
Developer Marketing is…• Demand Generation• Customer Lifecycle• Social Campaigns• Content Calendar• Email Campaigns• Brand Marketing• Digital Presence• Contests• Events• SEO• etc.
What is Developer Relations?
Developer Relations is…
A New Hybrid Role
(ThisisNOTaunicorn.Thisisasoftwareengineerwhoisalsogregariousandoutgoingandgreatatpublicspeakingwhilealsowritingflawlesssamplecodeandisactiveinonlinecommunitiesandhas
greatreponStackOverflow,Github,amongotherplaces.)
Developer Relations is…
Evangelism Advocacy
Developer Relations is…Evangelism
• Public Speaking• Social Media• Conferences• Office Hours• Blog Writing• Online Q&A• Hackathons• Demos• Code• Etc.
Advocacy
• Product Specific Feedback• Documentation Feedback• Feature Request Issues• Developer Quotes• Tooling Feedback• Market Research Roadmap
Advice• Web Feedback• User Feedback• Etc.
But Isn’t There Overlap?
Overlap
Overlapping Metrics
• Developer Satisfaction• Product Improvement• User Retention• Market Growth• Revenue• Adoption• Etc.
Overlapping Job Functions
• Online Community• Public Speaking• Outreach• Strategy• Content• Events• Etc.
Overlapping Org Structures
Overlapping Org Structures
Real World Ideal World
“DeveloperRelations”
Marketing
CMO
CEO
CTO
Marketing
CMO
CEO
CTO
DeveloperRelations
Note:BigCompanyProblemsdifferfromStartupProblems&TheImportanceofOrgStructureChanges
Key Takeaways• Naming Matters – So Let’s All Agree On These Definitions & “Baptize” Our Companies
With Then ;)• Job Role Specificity Matters (If You Want To Keep Your Job Anyways & Also For
Company Success)• Developer Relations Done Right Matters• Developer Relations Done Wrong Can Kill Developer Marketing Efforts• Great Developer Advocacy Is Invisible But Is Nonetheless Marketing (Developers Are
Humans, Too)• Collaboration Between Developer Marketing & Developer Relations Is Unavoidable (And
Can Be Mutually Beneficial)• Don’t Leave These Things Unsaid: Have These Uncomfortable Conversations To Get
Comfortable Results
Thank You!My sub-title is funny, clever or just insightful